As the state faces a severe shortage of medical providers, Maine lawmakers are considering ways to help foreign-trained physicians get re-licensed. But a similar proposal put forward last year failed to get funded.
The bill, LD 105, would sponsor up to ten training slots at accredited teaching hospitals around the state. The program would be aimed at immigrants in Maine who were licensed to practice medicine in other countries and who meet certain qualifications.
Sarah Calder, with MaineHealth, testified in favor of the bill earlier this month, saying that Maine desperately needs more doctors.
"The workforce crisis is real. I get a weekly snapshot of the openings that we have within MaineHealth, and we're currently recruiting for, I think, 117 physicians," she said.
James Jarvis, with the Maine Medical Association, said the bill would ensure high training standards.
"LD 105 provides the mechanism for this alternative medical training to be sufficiently rigorous. These skills are reviewed under clinical competency standards supported by trained faculty supervision, and made accessible to those physicians who want to further hone their skills toward licensure," he told a legislative committee.
The program would cost an estimated $2.5 million.
The legislature advanced a similar proposal last year, but it ultimately did not get funded. That could cloud its future again this session, as the state faces an even tighter budget picture.
